Environment News
Thailand environment news, climate change, sustainability, and natural disasters—stay updated on eco-initiatives, biodiversity conservation, and renewable energy efforts. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for environmental news in Thailand.
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Sponsored Is private health insurance in Thailand worth it? Real costs vs risks explained
Thailand has a strong healthcare system with both public and private options. Public hospitals offer affordable care, but many people, including expats, choose private health insurance for faster service, modern facilities, and more treatment choices. To decide if private health...
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Giant honey bees swarm home in southern Thailand
A man from Krabi, southern Thailand, was left terrified and thankfully unharmed after tens of thousands of giant honey bees – or Apis dorsata – swarmed his home on Sunday. Thailand’s giant honey bees have been called “the most dangerous stinging insects on earth” by Cornell University apiculturist Roger Morse. Somchai Kaewkasorn, a Department of Highways official, was watching television…
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That sinking feeling – the Maldives is building a new ‘floating’ country
Run out of space? No problem. Just build another room. In the case of an entire country that is sinking into the Indian Ocean, the situation becomes a bit more acute. Technically, the Maldives isn’t sinking, the sea levels are rising and slowly swamping the low-lying Indian Ocean nation, scattered south west of India. The Maldives, a country of some…
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Young whale spotted caught in rubbish in Phuket
Another damning video is exposing the danger of Thailand’s pollution towards its wildlife, this time in Phuket. On Thursday, a fisherman spotted a young sperm whale stuck in rubbish near Phuket’s Racha Island. The fisherman, Pongsakorn Naksaard, posted a photo and 2 videos of the poor creature on Facebook. One of the videos shows the pile of rubbish more clearly.…
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Officials in eastern Thailand scramble to save tree from tourists
Officials in eastern Thailand are scrambling to save a lone tree on a tiny islet off Trat province from tourist destruction. The islet is only a few metres wide, with nothing on it except the tree and its roots. The director of maintenance at Koh Mak Tambon Administrative Organisation, Lertrob Saithongpu, said the wee little islet can only handle 5…
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Pink pineapple is illegal in Thailand, smugglers face jail time
A type of genetically-modified pink pineapple is being illegally sold in Thailand, according to a warning issued by Thailand’s Ministry of Agriculture yesterday. The ministry urges the public to keep a vigilant eye out for unusual fruit and report anyone involved in the illicit pink pineapple trade. Costa Rican company Fresh Del Monte has been cultivating ‘Pinkglow’ pineapples, which are…
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Officials raise awareness on World Oceans Day in Patong
A Thai official spoke about threats to the country’s oceans at an event marking World Oceans Day yesterday in Patong. Thailand’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Varawut Silpa-archa, led the event titled “Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean” at Loma Park in Patong Beach. Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Services hosted similar events in 10 coastal provinces. Varawut…
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Phuket marine centre works to heal injured sea turtle
A marine centre in Phuket is working to nurse an injured sea turtle back to health. The turtle was spotted washed up by strong waves on the sands of Kata Beach earlier this week. The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources arrived on the scene after a hotel staff alerted them of the struggling little snapper. The DMCR found the…
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Phuket conservationists lead beach cleanup after trash washes up from storms
A conservation group in Phuket lead a beach cleanup at Siranart National Park on Friday, as storms have hit the Andaman Sea with large waves that tend to wash up garbage and marine debris on shores. The event, organised by the Andaman Natural Resources Foundation, was titled Big Cleaning Day 10. Other government agencies and private organisations, as well as…
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Phuket looks for new groundwater sources to cope with acute water shortages
The Department of Groundwater Resources started a project to explore new groundwater sources in Phuket to cope with the ongoing water scarcity problem in the province. The project is also expected to be a model for other Thai islands to study groundwater resources and water management. The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Varawut Silpa-Archa, assigned the Groundwater Resources Department…
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11 Malaria patients found in Thailand’s east, blood from monkeys on Koh Chang tested
The eastern Thai province of Trat has reported 11 malaria patients, 9 from Koh Chang and 2 from the Bor Rai district. The type of malaria found in the residents is the parasite plasmodium knowlesi. The disease was first detected in the local monkey population and then transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. Blood from random monkeys on Koh Chang has…
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UPDATE: Chief in Phuket says black water is “not from businesses”
THE LATEST After a popular Facebook page claimed this week that dirty black water at a Phuket beach is being caused by nearby businesses, an official insists it is not. The page, titled Monsoon Garbage Thailand, posted a damning video of the water flowing into the ocean at Kamala Beach. But Kamala Tambon Administrative Organisation Chief Jutha Dumlak told The Phuket…
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Black water still flowing into ocean at Phuket’s Kamala Beach
A popular Facebook page has posted a video and photos this week of black, dirty water flowing into Phuket’s Kamala Beach on the island’s west coast. The page, titled Monsoon Garbage Thailand, claims that the dirty black water was released from nearby businesses without any treatment. The Phuket Express reports that local business owners and government representatives have not yet responded…
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More Thai national parks to close to allow for recovery during monsoon season
The national parks at Mu Koh Similan and Mu Koh Surin have joined Mu Koh Lanta in Krabi province in closing for the monsoon season. The famous tourist attraction of Maya Bay, on Koh Phi Phi Leh, kicked things off recently, when officials announced that it would once again close to allow the bay’s fragile eco-system to recover. Maya Bay re-opened…
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Dengue hasn’t gone away – Dengue fever in Thailand 2022, and how to avoid it
Covid-19, and the controls taken to limit its spread, have clearly disrupted essential health services and other disease control programs worldwide – school closures, lockdowns, curfews and social restrictions, hoping to limit the spread of Covid-19. But those enforced changes have also resulted in the transmission of other infectious diseases, including dengue fever. Despite dropping off the radar in the…
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More than 600 endangered or prohibited animals seized at Suvarnabhumi Airport
Wildlife officials and the Thai Customs Department have seized more than 600 endangered or prohibited animals at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. The animals were delivered from a middle east country via Egypt Air. The information about the sender hasn’t been reported at this stage of the investigation. Yesterday, the Manager of the Wildlife Checkpoint at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Yossathon Kongngen, told…
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Bangkok authorities look to tackle air pollution
After unsafe levels of smog and smoke blanketed Bangkok last month, the city’s authorities are now looking to tackle Bangkok’s notorious air pollution. The deputy permanent secretary of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has said that this year, the BMA aims to work with other government agencies to deal with the air problem. He said that the BMA’s pollution control operations…
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Phuket prepares reforestation activity for National Tree Day
National Tree Day is coming up next Friday, May 13, and Phuket is getting ready to celebrate! Phuket authorities plan to host a public event where people can come and plant trees. The event will start at Wat Kosit Viharn Temple, off Thepkrasattri Road in Rassada, and move to Toh Sae National Forest reserve, which is behind the temple off…
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Officials worried about low number of Irrawadday dolphins in Thailand
Thai officials are worried about the low number of dolphins of a particular breed in Thailand. Despite campaigns in past years to preserve Irrawaddy dolphins, only 14 of them were found in Songkhla Lake, and 89 in the Mekong River, according to a 2020 survey. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa said that dolphins often die when they get…
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Famous Thai YouTuber under fire for collecting hermit crabs
A famous YouTuber ‘OauJun Hi-End‘ with 4.5 million subscribers, posted a video of himself collecting a bunch of hermit crabs and bringing them home. He posted a video yesterday apologising for catching them, as he didn’t know he would attract so much attention. Varawut Silpa-archa, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, says he will investigate him for his actions.…
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Dog owners prosecuted for bathing dogs at waterfall inside Thai national park
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation has prosecuted dog owners who brought dogs and bathed them at a waterfall inside the Khao Luang National Park in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. The authorities said pets were banned from entering the national parks in Thailand to prevent the spread of diseases from the urban area. One…
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Wildlife workers rescue injured dolphin in Phuket
Tourists and locals at Phuket’s Nai Yang beach, near the Phuket International Airport, spotted a dolphin stranded and grounded in shallow waters this morning. The dolphin had 3 key injuries, one on its tail, one on its side, and one near its mouth. Thalang officials notified the head of Sirinath National Park about the dolphin after the tourists and locals…
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Thailand agrees to fund Zinc-ion batteries for electric vehicles
A Thai tech executive director says Thailand’s government has agreed to fund 192 billion baht to asset finding for the development and production of zinc-ion batteries for electric vehicles. The executive director of the National Science and Technology Development Agency says the funding will go to the agency for the project. The Thai government has swung their full support around…
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Former Phuket prison to transform into spooky tourist attraction
An old Phuket prison no longer housing inmates is now set to become a spooky tourist attraction, providing visitors with a “Twilight Zone” experience. Phuket Prison was built in Phuket Town about 120 years ago, and Phuket officials now plan to turn it into a ‘live museum’ to teach both tourists and locals about its history. In addition to the…
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Trash still a major problem for Phuket beach
Although Phuket officials have repeatedly called on local administrations to clean their areas, one beach on the island province continues to struggle with its trash problem. At Nai Harn beach, plastic trays are often left near the water, and sometimes, people even leave their trash right next to a garbage bin (instead of in it). One unnamed local resident told…
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Songkran crowds flock to the new, improved, wider, better Jomtien Beach
Pattaya, the seaside playground 2 hours south east of Bangkok, never had really good beaches. But these days the popular resort boasts huge expanses of sand as far as the eye can see. Most of the earlier efforts were concentrated on the popular Pattaya beachfront but recently the efforts moved to Jomtien, about 3 kilometres south of the main party…
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Floods cause mass buffalo starvation at Thale Noi park in southern Thailand
More than 200 dead water buffaloes have been found floating today at the Thale Noi Waterfowl Park in the southern Thai province of Pattalung. Prolonged flooding in the region had destroyed the grasses that the buffalo rely on for food. Without it, they starved to death. Local authorities quickly rescued another 300 buffaloes, giving them dry grass and supplementary food…
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Unsafe levels of smog and smoke blanket Bangkok – VIDEO
Unsafe levels of PM2.5 ‘particulate’ cloud Bangkok and surrounding areas today. Phasi Charoen district, on the western side of the Chao Phraya, is the worst affected area, while other dangerous areas include: Phutthamonthon 1 Road in Taling Chan district, Lat Krabang Road in Lat Krabang district, Hirunrujee Road in Thon Buri district, and Charoen Nakhon Road in Khlong San district.…
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Independent candidate for Pattaya mayor vows to solve flooding, waste problems
One Pattaya mayoral candidate, who is running independent of any party, vows to solve the city’s flooding and waste problems. Independent candidate Sakchai Taenghor visited a market in Bang Lamung district of Chon Buri on Wednesday, where he spoke with local residents and vendors to promote his campaign to solve the issues. Flooding is a major problem in Pattaya during…
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Thailand bans single-use plastics from national parks, know before you go
The next time you go for a hike, swim or boat ride in Thailand’s protected great outdoors, make sure to leave disposable plastics at home — except for a water bottle. Beginning April 6, all single-use plastics and styrofoam products are banned from entering national parks in Thailand. Specifically, single-use plastic items such as bags, spoons, forks, straws, cups and…
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Agriculture ministry to give one million farms in Thailand solar panels
Thailand’s agriculture ministry plans to install solar panels on at least one million of Thailand’s farms in a new pilot project aiming to reduce farms’ electricity bills by 20-30% in 15-20 years. The ministry plans to issue a non-fungible token named “Solar Panels NFT for Thai Farmers” worth around 697 billion baht to legally trade with international investors in Singapore.…
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